


Secretly Wishing (Jean x Reader) (Modern!AU)

by IrisNicole



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, High School, I Don't Even Know, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-27 19:46:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5061628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrisNicole/pseuds/IrisNicole
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Woah. He looked so familiar. You were sure that you had seen him somewhere before. Memories flashed in your mind, your heart clenching once more like it had all those years ago. That cute, tooth-missing smile resurfaced with ease. Could this really be him?</p><p>“Nice underwear.” He smirked cockily.</p><p>Sigh...Nevermind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

_You had always been a good person._

_You listened to your mother. You did your homework. You smiled at every person you came across._

_These were things good people do...but why do you feel so dirty? Like you had just climbed out of a pig’s pen?_

_You were sitting there, watching every swing of their limbs with culpability. It was all like clockwork, staring at those boys. Everyday, right after school, they would gang up on him and tease him without remorse. Well...yeah, his face was really long and looked kind of like a horse’s, but was it necessary to beat him up? No one bothered to stop their abuse, and you **hated** that, but you supposed that just made you a hypocrite. Of course, thoughts of assisting horse boy always fluttered in your mind, but you weren’t going to put yourself in danger’s way. There was no way you could retaliate against them. No way…_

_Day after day. Morning to evening. It was a constant battle for horse boy, and you watched it all. His struggles to avoid the pain always ended in vain, and you just sat there and watched it all. His pudgy cheeks would go red with frustration, the ochre color of his eyes flaring, and **you watched it all.**_

_‘But you can’t fight...not like horse boy,’ you would always tell yourself, ‘someone else will help him.’ Coming up with excuses became a sport for you in order to brush off your guilt. What made it worse was the fact that he was your nextdoor neighbor, and when you walked home from school, you would always see him from the corner of your eye, crying...rubbing his fat fingers over those pretty orbs of his in a fierce attempt to get rid of the tears._

_You honestly didn’t know what to do. You were scared out of your wits for him, but you knew those boys at school would just pick on you if you tried to defend horse boy. It was already bad enough that you were referring to your neighbor with the nickname he had received much to his chagrin. You didn’t even know his name…_

_You couldn’t stand feeling this way. You were a good person. You always did what you were told and tried to make everyone happy. You had to do something, and you had to do something **fast.**_

_So one day, you decided to make a change...with a little help from your mom of course._

_It was a rainy Saturday morning, and you both had decided the night before to bake a dessert and visit your neighbors. For you, this plan seemed perfect in every aspect since it gave you a chance to see horse boy and learn his name. Your mom stated that you were going over there to wish them luck with something, but you wanted to think of it as your way of apologizing to horse boy for not being strong enough to help him with his bullies._

_Anyway, it was especially odd this day because a few trucks were lined up on the street in front of their house, and some men were carrying furniture onto the vehicles. You and your mother greeted Ms. Kirstein, the mother of horse boy, and presented her with a tray of cookies that your mom helped you bake the night before:_

_“Oh! Well, this is very kind of you!” The large woman exclaimed, one of her plump arms reaching out to embrace your mother gently._

_“We figured we ought to make you something as a goodbye gift,” your mother stated in a silvery tone, her arms gesturing to you for a moment, “(y/n) was determined to see your boy off.”_

_The portly woman smiled deeply, her gaze falling on you to reveal the same ochre orbs that haunted your thoughts. “It’s nice to see Jean-boy making friends...he really can be a problem child at times.” The lady quickly turned around, calling for her son to come to the front door. You snuck a peek into their home in the meantime and took note of the emptiness, your eyebrows rising in curiousity._

_You heard the adults talking about ‘saying goodbye’ and such...were they leaving? If so, when were they coming back?_

_Loud footsteps echoed throughout the house, the two adults chatting until Ms. Kirstein waved at something that you couldn’t see. You poked your head forward, your brows furrowing a little in curiosity before horse boy appeared._

_“There you are Jean-boy! Mrs. (L/n) and (y/n) have come to say goodbye!” You could hear the boy quietly complain to his mother, but you were focused more on the feeling of enjoyment you got when you sounded his name in your mind._

_Jean-boy...a little odd, but better than calling him horse boy._

_The two of you stood awkwardly behind your mothers. You had a tight hold on her skirt and Jean-boy seemed to mimic your movements as you both stared at each other rather intently. A few bruises littered his jaw and left temple from what you could see, but his fat face looked soft to the touch from your point of view. That feeling of guilt was starting to return; however, you weren’t going to let this stop you from making things better!_

_“-Money has been a little tight for me. I’m running on fumes now.” You heard Ms. Kirstein say, one hand unconsciously resting on Jean-boy’s head while the other held the plate of cookies. You didn’t really understand what she meant by that, but figured it had something to do with why they were leaving._

_The two women conversed with one another, chatting about random topics as you and Jean-boy held a silent staring contest. You’ve noticed him plenty of times at school, but it made you wonder if he ever noticed you? You were a good student academically and always did as the teacher told you just like everyone else...there was nothing that different about you to make you stand out._

_“Did you come here to make fun of me?” Your (e/c) eyes fluttered to life at his words, your visage showing uncertainty. Couldn’t he tell that you were here to make friends?_

_“I made you some cookies,” was your response. Well, technically, you didn’t make the cookies. You just watched the timer and decorated a few of them, but the cookies were your idea._

_The brunette watched you carefully, light brown eyes looking you up and down. “Are they sugar cookies?”_

_You nodded your head in all seriousness, knowing how important this encounter was for not only Jean-boy, but you as well._

_“...Good.”_

_And then he smiled._

_You felt your heart clench in response._

_You had never seen him smile before, and the effect was absolutely breath-taking. You could even see his teeth sneaking out from behind his lips, a tiny gap evident from where he had lost a tooth recently. To know that horse-you mean, Jean-boy was capable of something like that...it made you feel really nervous all of a sudden._

_Your palms were sweaty, your cheeks felt hot, and your knees underwent a weak sensation...and you didn’t like it one bit._

_After that, it was like the two of you had clicked. The two parents had let the both of you go out into the yard to play and run around some, making up for the lost time between you and Jean-boy. It was kind of fun playing with him, especially when he would complain about the amount of energy you had. Hours passed as the two of you hung out together, growing close as it turned out that Jean had finally made his first friend: you._

_Before long, you and your mother had finally left the Kirstein’s alone, returning to your house across the street with a sad aura. The trucks you had seen before were gone now, and you could see Jean-boy and his mother climbing into their van._

_As soon as you entered your home, you voiced your concerns, “Mama, when are they coming back?”_

_Your mother dropped her purse on the dining table, her jaw falling slack for a few moments as she watched you carefully. You seemed a little flushed and your hair was frizzy from the humidity and rain outside. “They aren’t coming back, sweetie. Remember? Ms. Kirstein and Jean are leaving to go live on the other side of town…_

_How could you miss this vital piece of information? “Jean?” was all you could murmur out, your head dropping to your chest in sadness. After all that you had done so far… This was going to be a new start for you! You had finally connected with horse boy and learned that his name was Jean or Jean-boy or whatever._

_“Yes. You won’t see Jean anymore at school…” A vivid image of the stout kid flashed before your eyes, his smile imprinted on the back of your eyelids now that you have seen it._

_What was wrong with you? Why did this mean so much to you?_

_Before you knew it, your mother was kneeling down in front of you, her fingers brushing away tears that surprised the both of you. “Did you really like Jean?”_

_You didn’t answer, but hiccupped quietly instead as your mom embraced you tightly. You really didn’t understand why you were so sad… None of it made sense._

_“I think you have a crush on him.” The woman pulled away from you, holding you at arm’s length. Her (e/c) eyes sparkled a little with interest to see your reaction. But her words bewildered you…_

_“What’s a crush?”_

_Your mom let out a deep laugh, her arms tugging you close once more, “I’m so happy!”_

_...How utterly confused you were._

*******

Here you were many years later, inspecting the yellow sticky note you had found in an old jewelry box.

 _‘(Y/n)’s First Crush,’_ it read. You still remembered having the talk with your mom about what a crush was, even after all of these years. She had written down the date on the sticky note before pinning it up on the fridge, her elegant handwriting bringing back old memories. You imagined if you had other crushes, they would have been written down as well, but this boy was the only one. It was kind of sad in a way, and you couldn’t exactly remember his name now since it’s been so long. You remembered his nickname, horse boy, and remembered those ochre eyes, cute smile, and pudgy face. His name though? Nope. 

With a sigh, you returned the sticky note to the jewelry box before shutting it. It was nice to go through and look at things from the past, but tomorrow, you were starting a new chapter in your life…

High school.

As an alumni of Sina Middle School, you were required to attend Titan High School along with the alumni of Maria Middle School and Rose Middle School. Most kids who graduate from Sina start home-schooling; however, that wasn’t the case for you. You were pretty sure that you would know absolutely no one there, which meant a fresh start, but there was an issue. Most of the kids there already had their friends from middle school, and they typically were not willing to open up their group to other people…

You did not look forward to it.

Your legs stretched out slowly as the bones cracked in your knees. You’ve been sitting in this uncomfortable position for the past hour, wasting away time. Your eyes fell upon the clock:

12:30 AM

You really should get to bed. Tomorrow was your first day of school, and you didn’t want to be late… However, in the back of your mind, you were secretly wishing that you wouldn’t have to go. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own you or the SnK/AoT characters. 
> 
> It’s pretty short, but I just wanted to see if anyone would be interested in reading a story like this. I promise that the chapters will be longer in the future.
> 
> Jean doesn’t seem to get enough love, so I made this for all of those people who feel the same way I do. If you liked this chapter or found anything that needs to be fixed, please let me know! :) I’m not sure if I should keep going with this or not, so I would greatly appreciate some feedback!


	2. Friends

The next day found you in your bedroom. It was the first day of school, but there was one problem.

It was the _first day of school_.

And you had slept in.

Of all the things to happen, the one situation that you never wanted to occur was knocking on your door. Today was supposed to be the day where you would make your first impression on everyone, but that plan had completely gone down the drain when your alarm clock forgot to wake you up...

You know, ‘cause the stupid thing was broken.

…

But you knew that wasn’t true. You actually forgot to set it last night.

But you should think about something else though rather than your stupidity. Perhaps something like getting to school on time?

Rushing from one area to the next in your room, you imagined yourself as a wild hurricane in your haste to get ready. _“Forget doing your hair...a ponytail is going to have to suffice for today,”_ you thought, throwing your hair up without a care. When you had finally laced up your shoes, you raced out of your room like an Olympic sprinter, barely remembering to grab your messenger bag before leaving.

Your bag bounced painfully against your hip, but you never took notice. You were too occupied with your hatred for yourself. Your hair made you look like a complete slob along with the messily-applied makeup on your face, and your uniform was apparently too big for your body. You knew you should have tried it on when your mom asked you to a few weeks ago, but in your defense, you didn’t know that school uniforms were made in different sizes than regular clothes…

Hastily tucking in your shirt, you flew past your mother in the kitchen and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. You could hear her call after you, but never processed her words when you stepped into the chilly morning air.

 _“Please make it to class on time!”_ You found yourself praying to any form of deity out there. The skirt on your hips was drooping a little with every step you took, and your shirt felt really loose on your body. However, all of this discomfort paled in comparison to the racing of your heart and the embarrassment that was soon to come if you showed up late on the _first day_ of school. No one would want to be friends with a slob who didn’t seem to care about their education...you absolutely refused to start off your high school career with the reputation as the layabout.

You found yourself on school grounds in the next minute, not even bothering to take in the beauty of the campus like you had the last week when you visited. You knew exactly where you needed to go, but you couldn’t help but let out a whimper as every building’s window showed students sitting in the classrooms.

Huh. What a coincidence that there were no other students rushing to homeroom like their whole life depended on it. It was the _first day_ after all. It was kind of important.

You poured on the speed, wishing that you had joined the track team back at your old school. Why did your homeroom have to be so far away? You must had been quite the sight to see though...a freshman, who not to mention looked like crap, sprinting to class while trying to hold up her skirt to save her from more embarrassment.

A building appeared in the distance, the morning fog disappearing to reveal the plate number. You ran right up to the front door before yanking the glass back with a great amount of force. Tearing off down the hallway, your (e/c) orbs slid along all of the classrooms wildly, your homeroom appearing just ahead.

Thank the gods.

You swore you heard a skidding sound when you halted your running, breaths coming out in awful and erratic pants. Relief flooded your features, a confident smile stretching across your face as you approached the cracked door. You slid your hand in between the gap to push it open…

And then the door shut.

Right onto your fingers.

You cringed at the sensation, yanking your hand back with a sharp inhale. You watched with moist eyes as the door bounced back open, and you clutched your injured appendage to your chest.

One glance at the laughing faces in the room sent you looking determinedly at the ground, walking into the room slowly.

“I’m so sorry!” A girl with dark hair pulled into two pigtails quickly grabbed your wrist from your chest, examining your red fingers carefully. Her gray eyes flashed with regret as you continued to stare at your shoelaces, humiliation written on your features as the teacher attempted to settle his giggling students down. “I didn’t realize there was anyone else coming...”

“It’s alright…” You stated shyly, voice sounding hoarse. Smooth, (y/n). She probably thinks you do drugs or something now.

If she thought that way though, she showed no sign of it. “Come with me,” she said happily, satisfied when you exhibited no signs of suffering. Your hand ached a little as she guided you to the middle of the classroom, several sets of eyes watching the two of you. Whispering echoed in the room, your ears picking up on the words of the students.

Your eye started to twitch when you heard them refer to you as “Stubby.”

“Alright everyone! Let’s settle down for roll-call!” You and the dark-haired girl took your seats in the center of the classroom, your chin remaining plastered to your chest. So much for a first impression…

“My name is Mina. What’s yours?” Your gaze lifted to meet a pair of gray orbs, a large smile on the girl’s face.

You could tell she liked to talk a lot. “(Y/n)...”

“Wow! That sounds really pretty!” She exclaimed, the teacher sending a glare in your general direction from her exclamation. Mina didn’t seem to care…

You took off your messenger bag and set it off to the side, partially listening to Mina as she went on and on about how nice your name sounded. Meanwhile, you took this time to examine your knuckles for damage, the skin peeling off and bruising.

Your homeroom teacher began taking attendance, all of the names sounding foreign and unfamiliar to you. With a quick glance around the room, you could already tell that groups were starting to form, the students chatting quietly with one another about their summer vacations. Nearly all of them must had grown up together-.

“Here!” Mina shouted suddenly, scaring you at her close proximity. She had scooted her chair over to you, that bright smile never leaving her face.

Didn’t she have some friends in this class like everyone else? Why was she talking to you?

“-Anyway, so where are you from?” Her singsong voice was gentle now in comparison to her boisterous spurts from earlier. She seemed to have calmed herself down from all of the excitement, her stormy eyes watching you with curiosity.

You felt strangely relieved and thankful for her presence. “Sina.”

“Really? Huh...You’re nothing like what I’ve heard about the kids from there. And I didn’t know students from Sina go to this school...normally they’re homeschooled.” She brought a finger up to her chin, rubbing it a little in contemplation. For a moment, she appeared to have visibly frozen, her hands coming out to grasp your arm. “N-not that there is anything wrong with you going here!”

You smiled at her attempts to cover up her words, feeling a little uncomfortable from her tight grip on your arm. Kids from Sina had a reputation for being rather snooty and uppity due to their familial ties and wealth; however, there were a few exceptions. “My mom couldn’t afford to keep me at home. So now I-oh wait-here!” You lifted your hand to the teacher when he called your name, “I don’t really know anyone here.”

“But you do know people...” Mina released your arm, pointing a thumb to her face. “You know me!” For a second or two, you stared at her grin. You had never met anyone with as much energy as her.

“Ok! Everyone seems to be here!” The teacher called out, introducing himself as all the students turned to face forward, which included both you and Mina. “Now for this year-.”

You already knew what he was going to talk about. There were some parental forms to be passed out, along with planners, fliers for clubs, and schedule arrangements. You had already taken care of these things beforehand with your mom, but you had not decided on a club yet to join. At Titan High School, you were required to participate in at least one club during all seasons, which would definitely be an issue for you since your talents were rather limited…

Your homeroom teacher continued to drone on for the next 45 minutes about getting the papers turned back in by tomorrow and explained his rules for homeroom. Your first period class was a study hall, so if you had homework that needed to get done, you could do it now. There was to be no talking according to him, but you could already tell that rule would not be enforced strictly.

After a while, the bell had finally rung, signalling the end of the class as you stood and grabbed your bag. Before you even had a moment to yourself, Mina grabbed your shoulders.

“What classes do you have next?!” She seemed really excited when you handed her your schedule, her eyes darting over the page quickly until she frowned.

“What’s wrong?” You asked quietly, the two of you exiting the class to enter a rowdy hallway of freshmen.

“We barely have any classes together!” She whined out, walking with you as she dramatically brought a hand up to her forehead to feign a blackout. “You’re my first new friend!”

Your stomach did a quick flip at her words. She already considered you a friend? It made you feel rather joyous at the thought; things were really different here compared to Sina. Friends were really hard to make back in middle school.

“I’ll see you at lunch though…” You tried to reassure her and dodge large bodies all at the same time, some boys shoving past the two of you when you were unsuccessful. You had to try and make it to your locker before your next class, and by the way how Mina was slowing down, her 2nd period classroom was just up ahead.

The dark-haired girl stopped in front of a doorway, her vibrant smile lighting her face up once more. “Save me a seat if you get there before me, (y/n)!” She disappeared into the classroom, which smelled like paint and chalk, leaving you alone in the hallway.

Almost as though you had woken up from a dream, you soon realized how completely lost you were in the building. You weren’t paying attention when you were walking with Mina, and all of the students sauntering past you covered up all forms of definite locations.

You were sure your locker was somewhere upstairs, so you continued down the hall in hopes that a staircase would appear. As time passed, the numbers of students in the hallway began to diminish, your feet carrying you along sluggishly when it became evident that there was no way you were going to find you locker. Tugging your bag up higher on your shoulder, you let out a deep sigh before turning into the nearest class, asking the teacher for directions.

It turned out that your next class, which was chemistry with Hange Zoe, was on the other side of the building. You received an excused pass from the teacher you were talking to, making your way down the corridor...

Today was going to be a _long_ day.

***

By the time it was lunch, you were ready to slam your head against a wall. You hadn’t really talked to anyone else other than Mina after your first class, but you had a good reason. In your chemistry class, you had some blond-haired boy for a partner, who was actually pretty cute, but a complete and total spaz; not to mention your teacher was a psycho. You honestly wouldn’t be surprised if someone was set on fire by the end of year…and even less surprised if it was you.

Then after that, your 3rd period math teacher had already assigned homework...on the first day. He must really hate the world or something, and he apparently has an obsession with organization and cleaning. In fear of pencil shavings, students were going to have to bring mechanical pencils to that class.

Now that it was 4th period, lunch had just begun and students were everywhere. You were painfully reminded once again that you were going to have make friends soon when several girls gave you odd looks because they caught you staring at them.

Unfortunately for you, you had forgotten to pack a lunch in the morning during your rush to get to school. Not only that, but you also didn’t have the money to buy one.

You stood with a dumbfounded look on your face, the cafeteria looking very intimidating with all of its people. Several kids were eating inside and others were out in the main yard, a group of boys playing football in between the cherry blossom trees. Your eyes searched frantically for a dark-haired girl with twintails inside, but was disappointed. It wasn’t like you could eat anything for lunch; however, you weren’t keen on just standing around looking clueless…

You decided to head outside to look for Mina, feeling a little desperate now to find her. She was the only person you truly felt confident enough to talk to...she probably already had a ton of friends though. If anything, the few periods that you didn’t have together gave others an opportunity to hang out with Mina.

You couldn’t help but to let out a sharp exhale in humor at how different you and Mina were…

Quickly turning the corner, you passed by a couple sitting together on a bench, looking thoroughly for your dark-haired friend. She could still be at her locker...it had been a while though since lunch started. After a while, you thought you had spotted her but had to remind yourself that about half of the girls here had dark hair. With a deep sigh, you settled on doing a quick sweep of the outside before finding a place to take refuge from the rest of the students. Your plan to make friends was slowly flushing down the drain when you realized that you didn’t have the confidence to even approach anyone.

For the next few minutes, you searched and searched for the eccentric and exuberant girl, unable to pinpoint her location. The only place left was to check over by the boys playing football, but you highly doubted she would be over there…

Nevertheless, you still needed something to occupy your time until lunch was over, so you went anyway.

You could practically smell the testosterone all the way from where you were walking, grunts and indecencies being shouted with every push and shove. You had absolutely no desire to be anywhere near the boys, especially with the possibility of a stray ball hitting you.

“Oi! (Y/n)!” Your eyes spotted Mina off to your left, her arms waving frantically in your direction. She pointed at one of the trunks of the trees and gestured for you to come over. That was when you noticed a small group of girls gathered underneath the tree, avidly conversing with one another.

 _“No big surprise...I was right.”_   You looked over to your right and found all of the boys on one side of the field… This gave you the chance to make it over to Mina without having to walk around. You trudged quickly toward the girl, afraid that jogging will make your skirt fall down (which reminded you that you needed to speak to the office about getting a smaller uniform).

The girl greeted you quickly and guided you over to the tree where her group of friends were sitting. You could hear a few boys bickering with one another, their ball sitting off to the side completely forgotten. Mina appeared to have never noticed the commotion going on behind her...either that, or she just didn’t care.

“Hey everyone, this is (y/n)! Didn’t I say that she was a cutie?” Mina pushed you forward a little and your gaze flew down to your feet, unable to hold contact with so many pairs of eyes. It was silent for a few moments, but then a girl with long, orange hair stood up rather frantically, stumbling over her own feet to greet you.

“I’m Hannah.” Her voice was very soft and welcoming, but based on her body language, she was acting kind of strange…

“Nice to meet you…” You mumbled out, trying your best to not look weird. It wasn’t a mystery as to why you didn’t have many friends in the first place.

The girl made a strange face at you before leaving the area, waddling back to the cafeteria building. You scratched the back of your head for a moment, looking to Mina in questioning of her peculiar behavior.

A single word answered all of your questions:

“Bathroom.”

Oh. “I see.”

“Yeah. Hannah has a really small bladder, but you’ll get used to it!” She let her body plop down on the ground, crossing her legs to prevent the others from seeing her underwear. Following her example, you draped your skirt over your knees, taking in the two remaining girls who had yet to introduce themselves.

“My name is Irene,” a high-pitched voice said. The one who had spoken sat awkwardly off to left, seated across from where Hannah used to be. Her hair was a fine black color that was left to hang loosely around her shoulders. A pair of glasses sat on the bridge of her nose, shielding her golden eyes behind its lens. She was currently stuffing her face with a candy bar out of nervousness, her round fingers clutching tightly to the comfort food.

You nodded your head at Irene and then focused on the girl sitting across from you. The first thing that you noticed about her was how small her form was. Now that you thought about it though, she was probably about the same height as you, maybe just a little shorter. Her short blond hair was pulled up and away from her face, her bangs falling nicely to slightly cover her eyes and compliment her pale complexion.

You waited for the last girl to introduce herself, but noticed that her attention was focused on the front gate of the school.

Mina perceived this as well and spoke, “and (y/n), this is Annie.” Your gaze flew upwards to see Mina pointing at the small girl leaned up against the tree, her light blue eyes staring on at the world with a hint of hatred. She seemed to be upset about something…

“H-Hello.” Your voice came out as a squeak when her harsh gaze was turned in your direction, her head nodding once in greeting. She then continued her glaring at the front gate of the school, Mina taking over the conversation afterwards.

“Annie doesn’t talk that much, but she is really nice!” You felt your jaw slacken a little with your friend’s statement, but figured that you shouldn’t judge the blond based on her looks. The ever-present scowl on her face put you off a little, but the way how her eyes seemed to have softened when she looked at you made you wonder about the mystery behind her.

You and Mina sat together, chatting about the classes you had in the morning as Irene would give her opinion every once in awhile. Mina took up most of the conversation, but you really didn’t mind. You and the dark-haired girls sat angled toward Annie to include her in your group, hoping that she would randomly feel the need to join in on your conversation. Eventually Hannah had made it back, adding more to the discussion with jokes.

You took the time to observe the group of friends you had encountered, wondering how all of these misfits were able to come together like this. In the ten minutes of your time spent with them, you had learned that Irene had awful anxiety and was constantly worrying. You had also accumulated that Hannah had a boyfriend named Franz along with a little issue with her bladder. She was just as talkative as Mina and had a strange obsession with boys.

Now Annie...she was a character. You could honestly say that you had never met anyone as unresponsive and uncaring as her, which wasn’t a bad thing entirely. According to Mina, she had known Irene and Hannah since elementary school, but first met Annie in her third period class…

And the last of the group was Mina.

Mina was the mother hen. She was the reason why all of you were here together and acted like the mediator by trying to get everyone involved. Even when Annie refused to answer her questions, she continued on just as happy as she was before. It seemed that she had a silent understanding for everyone and knew exactly how each of the girls felt. She never pushed and never pulled. It was kind of surprising to think she had so few friends.

But also a little heartwarming.

“So have you met anyone cute, yet?” You suddenly felt Mina press her shoulder against yours, her face hovering as it gave you a suggestive look. She must had thought you were checking out the football players off to your right based on the way how her silver eyes sparkled. “I grew up with a lot of these boys, so I wanna hear your take on them.”

You rose your eyebrows at her, watching as she sat back with a few giggles, Hannah joining in with her. Annie was still staring off into space and didn’t seem to be paying attention.

“I haven’t really talked to any of them…” You stated.

Mina waved her hand nonchalantly. “Pssh! You don’t have to talk to them to think they’re cute!” She started to prattle about finding herself a boyfriend by the end of the year, believing it was best to get started now rather than wait. Honestly, you thought the idea was kind of ridiculous. Back in Sina, no one ever ‘dated’ at school because it was a place reserved for education. You supposed it was just another one of those things that you were going to have to get used to.

“Shouldn’t you want to talk to them first before admiring them?” You thought back to the sticky note sitting in your jewelry box, shaking your head a little at the idea.

“My sheltered friend, allow me to teach you how it works!” Hannah pointed her finger to a short boy with a buzzcut, yelling belligerently at one of his opponents. “Do you think he’s cute?”

You thought about Hannah’s words for a moment, and then spoke, “well, he seems to be really loud and hostile...possibly insecure about his height.”

“That’s not what we’re asking though, (y/n)! Cute or no?” Mina grabbed your cheeks and chin with one hand, squeezing a little as she directed your focus back to the short guy.

“Um...his clothes-.”

“No no...is he cute? Yes or no? Don’t worry about anything else.”

“He has a nice smile.”

“So do you think he is cute?”

“I guess?”

A smile erupted on Mina’s face. “You are learning! Good job, Stubby.”

Your jaw dropped at the nickname she gave you. “Stubby?!”

“Hehe! Everyone’s been calling you that after 1st period.”

“People are talking about me?!”

Mina and Hannah were acting like those stereotypical high school girls you would see on TV, their thoughts completely driven by the idea of boys and teasing you about how ‘sheltered’ you were. They seemed to take satisfaction in getting you flustered, their wild personalities fitting well together.

Irene suddenly spoke up, a shy smile on her face, “just wait until they start talking about Mr. Ackerman.”

...Wait, your math teacher?

Mina switched the conversation away from you and talked about all that she had learned from the first few periods at this school, coming up with a list. It sounded like she was acquaintances with nearly every student in the freshman class and already had her club picked out as Speech and Debate. Her topics of conversation were jumping from here to there as her mind tried to process what she wanted to say, a smile slowly creeping onto your face.

Mina suddenly halted from her speech. “You should smile more often.”

You could feel your face heating up, your grin faltering for a look of shock.

The dark-haired girl tried to contain her giggles. "Sorry, I just noticed that you have one of ‘those’ smiles.”

You weren’t exactly sure what she meant by that, but thanked her nevertheless.

“Anyway!” Mina said, “I think the bell is about to ring in a few minutes, so we should probably go.” She stood up quickly, her lunch bag swinging in her hand. Gray eyes flitted to and from her friends, focusing on one in particular. “Annie, where are you going?”

“Sorry, I have to go do something.” That was the first time you heard her spoke.

“It’s ok! I’ll see you later!” Mina waved at Annie, but the blond had already turned her back and was walking away toward the front gate of the school...weird.

You opened your mouth to say something to Mina about your thoughts, a little worried for Annie, but was halted when a loud voice overcame yours.

“Hey, Mina!”

The voice was smooth and masculine, surprising you when a tall, sweaty boy approached your group. _“He must had come from the football game.”_ You stared at him for a few moments and observed how he casually talked with Mina. He appeared to be really nice and reserved, and the freckles that covered his nose and cheeks gave him a childish look.

You and the two other girls stood off to the side. There was an unspoken agreement between you all to wait for Mina to finish, but Hannah eventually had to leave so she could go and find Franz. After bidding the ginger farewell, Irene spoke:

“You want this?” You looked over to the plump female, a ham sandwich resting in her palms. “I noticed that you didn’t bring anything for lunch, and I’m kind of full.”

“Really?” Your mouth was starting to water because of the sandwich…

“Yeah…” You eyeballed the meat for a moment before taking it and practically inhaling the food. Thanks flooded from your mouth, the juice from the ham running down your chin as you quickly wiped it away.

“What class do you have next?” You asked after swallowing down a bite of food, feeling more confident.

The girl brought a chubby finger to her lips. “Hmm...I think I have gym.”

“Hey, Stubby! Come here for a second!” Before you had time to reply to Irene, Mina was tugging you away, your face flaring up in return.

“Please don’t call me that…” You mumbled, listening as the dark-haired girl let out a hearty laugh. You sent Irene a final look to thank her for the sandwich and waved good bye when the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Turning to Mina, you flanked her side along with the freckled boy from earlier and thought about the events that had just took place.

"Marco needs to talk to you about something."

In one period, thanks to Mina, you had been happily accepted into her group. Back home in Sina, nobody wanted anything to do with you, but here…everything was so _different_. Friends were a rare thing to have...but you were very lucky.

Perhaps having a door slammed shut on your hand was a good thing. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm...Marco has something he needs to talk to you about? I wonder...but I’m going to have to end it there! So far, everything seems to be moving slowly, but I promise, this is all for the sake of the plot. It’s important for our lovely reader to establish relationships first rather than jumping right into the good stuff, because where is the fun in that? Anyway, how was it? Pretty good? Extremely boring (I wouldn’t blame you)? Leave a comment if you want. It helps. A lot. But if you’re too lazy (once again, I don’t blame you), then leave some kudos if you liked it. If you’re extremely lazy or hated it, then just move on with your life...no hard feelings :). Thank you for reading!


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